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No. 23/2005

Wednesday 11 May 2005

The Senate met from 9.30am until 7.55pm

Privilege [and declaration of interest by a
senator]

Senator Lightfoot made
a statement relating to sponsorship of his visit to Iraq in
July 2004 and his failure to register that interest with the
Registrar of Senators’ Interests. The Leader of the
Opposition in the Senate (Senator Evans) withdrew his notice of
motion [the notice was given on
10 May 2005] to refer the matter to the Committee of
Privileges. The Senate debated and agreed to
a motion moved by Senator Evans to take note of Senator
Lightfoot’s statement [link to
first speaker].

The Senate ordered the Minister for Defence to table all
briefings to the Minister and the Minister for Veterans’
Affairs, on the matter of road works at Gallipoli over the past
four years, and all internal minutes and file notes, including
records of meetings between the Office of Australian War Graves and
officials of the Government of Turkey on the same subject–no
later than 12 May 2005–moved by Senator Bishop

The Senate ordered the Minister representing the Minister for
Employment and Workplace Relations to table all submissions
received by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations in
response to the Building on Success Community Development
Employment Project Discussion Paper 2005–no later than 3.30pm
on 12 May 2005–moved by Senator Carr

The Senate ordered the Minister representing the Minister for
Employment and Workplace Relations to table the final report of the
Breaching Review Taskforce, presented to the Minister in December
2004–no later than 5.00pm on 12 May 2005–moved by
Senator Greig

Document tabled

A report to the Senate on the decision not to take further
enforcement action in relation to the Part A competition notice
issued to Telstra Corporation Ltd on 19 March 2004
was tabled [The document was tabled in response to the order of
the Senate agreed to on
10 March 2005 on the motion of Senator Conroy]

Notices of motion given

Senator Carr gave a
notice of motion to require the tabling of all correspondence
between the Minister for Education, Science and Training and
certain office-holders and members of the Board, Council or
Executive of the former Melbourne University Student Union from
2002–no later than 5.00pm on 12 May 2005

Senator Allison gave a notice of motion to require the Minister
representing the Minister for Health and Ageing to table copies of
all reports provided by the Australian Federation of Pregnancy
Support Services to the Department of Health and Ageing as part of
their reporting requirements, including financial
statements–no later than 4.30pm on 12 May 2005

Senator Bartlett gave a
notice of motion to require the tabling of all reports provided
by the states and territories to the Commonwealth under Housing
Assistance (Form of Agreement) Determination 2003, Schedule 1,
subsections 4(33) and 4(36) for the financial year 2003-04–no
later than 3.30pm on 12 May 2005. The notice of motion also
requires the continued tabling of such reports and for the Minister
for Family and Community Services to be notified if reports are not
provided within a specified time.

Senator Brown gave a notice of motion to require the Minister
for the Environment and Heritage to table all correspondence from
January 2002 to the present between the Minister, his staff and
department and Gunns Pty Ltd relating to the proposed pulp mill in
Tasmania–no later than 3.30pm on 16 June 2005

Orders with continuing effect

Indexed lists of departmental and agency files published on
the internet

Statements of compliance for
various agencies were tabled [Letters of advice about certain
files created by departments and agencies required to be tabled
twice yearly; Senate
order agreed to]

Departmental and agency contracts published on the
internet

A statement of compliance for the Transport and Regional
Services portfolio agencies was tabled [Letters of advice about
certain contracts valued at $100 000 or more entered into by
departments and agencies required to be tabled twice yearly;
Senate
order agreed to]

Documents

The following documents were tabled:

Auditor-General–Audit
reports nos 39 to 42 of 2004-05 presented since the last
sitting of the Senate

Clerk’s documents [disallowable instruments and other
documents required by statute to be tabled]

Questions without notice and debate on issues arising in
Question Time

The Senate was informed of the deaths of–

Donald William Maisey, a member of the House of Representatives
for the division of Moore from 1963 to 1974.

The Honourable Albert (Al) Jaime Grassby AM, former federal
minister and member for Riverina, on 23 April 2005. The Senate
agreed to a
condolence motion moved by the Minister for Family and
Community Services.

The Leader of The Nationals in the Senate moved a condolence
motion relating to the death of the Honourable Sir Johannes
Bjelke-Petersen, former Premier for the state of Queensland, on 23
April 2005. The Senate agreed to
the motion.

This publication is issued by the Senate Procedure Office as a
convenient summary of each day’s proceedings in the Senate.
For a complete account see the official record, the Journals of
the Senate, copies of which may be obtained from the Senate
Table Office (phone: 6277 3010) or on the Internet at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/index.htm.